Act now on energy costs

With ScottishPower the latest supplier to announce inflation-busting rises in electricity and gas prices (your report, 2 February), there is a moral responsibility on the UK government to plough additional VAT revenue generated by these price rises into programmes aimed at ending fuel poverty.

The recent rises in domestic energy prices, with more expected in due course, will inevitably push more people into fuel poverty. This means vulnerable people and those on low incomes will struggle to heat their homes and pay their energy bills, with an estimated 700,000 households in Scotland – almost one in three – in fuel poverty.

ALEX ORR

Bryson Road

Edinburgh

The increases in energy costs, coming on top of several years of double-digit, inflation-busting rises, have made it clear that it's time the Scottish Government conducted an urgent inquiry into the feasibility of nationalising Scotland's domestic energy supply.

In the space of four or five years, the cost of energy has nearly doubled. Scotland, being the coldest part of the UK, is going to be affected most by these rises.

This is a nation blessed with an abundance of natural and renewable energy. The days of energy companies profiting from of the cold and misery of the Scottish people, particularly the poor and elderly, need to stop.

It is time for the nationalisation of Scotland's energy, run for the benefit of the Scottish people at a price they can afford.

TAM GRAHAM

West George Street

Glasgow